Donald Sloan is a good dude. He did not deserve to be cut on Christmas Day by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Unfortunately for Sloan, Shaun Livingston was cut on December 23 and the Cavs had until 5pm on the 25th to sign him by league rules.
The Cavaliers felt Livingston was a better option so Sloan is out and he is in.
What Livingston brings is a unique dynamic to the backup point guard position for the Cavs. Unique in the sense that he is 6'7" with point guard skills.
He's extremely skinny at 175 pounds, but his height does cause mismatches when lined up opposite a second-unit PG like John Lucas III, for example.
In 2004, Livingston's skill-set and potential made him a 4th overall pick out of high school. The Duke commit was about to change the game at the point guard position, I thought.
Since then he’s unfortunately suffered devastating injuries, though, that have transformed him into a fringe NBA player / career journeymen.
I wouldn't bet that Livingston factors too much into the Cavs future, however, but hopefully he maybe can I guess. Right now I’m thinking he’ll have a Cavs point guard career that lasts about as long as Sebastian Telfair’s did.
For all the things that are intriguing about Shaun Livingston, he still did just get cut by the worst team in the NBA.
Anyway, here is a video of him dunking on the Los Angeles Lakers this past January:
[youtube]THXmy9vB1-c[/youtube]
Shaun Livingston is now the third player on the Cavaliers' roster who was selected with the fourth overall pick in the NBA Draft in case you were wondering.
Below are also some notes the Cavs included in their press release on Christmas night Tuesday:
Livingston, 27, has appeared in 17 games (four starts) for the Wizards, averaging 3.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 18.8 minutes per game.
The 6-foot-7, 175-pound guard out of Peoria Central (IL) High School is in his eighth NBA season and has career averages of 6.6 points on .457 shooting, 2.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 22.4 minutes over 341 games (110 starts).
Donald Sloan has played in 20 games this season for the Cavs, averaging 4.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 12.9 minutes per game.
Best of luck to D-Sloan. It's always good to have guys like him come through Cleveland. Hopefully he resurfaces in the league somewhere soon.

You'll
also
receive Yardbarker's daily Top 10, featuring the best sports stories from around the web.
Customize your newsletter to get articles on your favorite sports and teams. And the best part? It's free!